Camping-cabinet



S. B. TWISS.

CAMPING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I8. 191?.

1,326,809.v Patented Dec. 30,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

mvENmR WITNESSES ,Jlmlzel ,Tu/S @M40/v Y 4 4%?! m BY W ATTORNEY S.' B. TWISS.

CAMPING CABINET. APPLICATION FILED APR. Ia. Ian.

1 ,326,809. Patented Deo. 30, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Jamzgel Td/11515" WITN asses WMU/W4? n j] i a! Ea Z I y ATTORNEY INVENTOR I S. B. TWISS.

CAMPING CABINET.

APPLICATION man APR. la. um.

1,326,809. Patented Dee. 30,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INV'ENTOR ,Jamue ,3. Tafzs WITNESSES 'ATTORNEY SAMUEL B. TWISS, 0F LEWISTOWN, MONTANA.

CAMPING-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented` Dec. 30, 1919.

Application led April 18, 1917. Serial No. 163,001.

To all whom t mag/concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. Twiss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lewistown, in the county of Fergus 'and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Camping-Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in cabinets and more particularly to what might be termed a camping cabinet, or a cabinet adapted to have dishes, cooking and eating utensils, provisions, a stove, fuel therefor, etc., packedV in a condensed space for purposes of ready and convenient transportation, and which cabinet presents the various articles to be readily accessible.

An object of my invention is to provide a cabinet of the character set forth which includes storage compartments and presents certain portions thereof to be extended to form a table, means being provided to hold the storage compartments closed, and to present the entire cabinet for ready transportation and handling.

A still further object is to provide legs for the cabinet, which legs are normally moved to such position that they are not presented for use, but may be moved in position for use when an extensible leaf carried by the cabinet is released and raised to an open position for forming a table top.

Yet another object lies in so constructing the entire unit that the cabinet can be set and mounted upon the running board of an automobile and access can be had to the several storage compartments, while at the same time the extension leaf forming the table top can be raised and the stove can be withdrawn to a position for use.

TWith. the above and other objects in view, which will be in part described, and in part understood from the specification, drawings, and claims, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing the cabinet opened up as it would be in use;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cabinet with the parts in closed relation;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the cabinet with the leaves raised;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the cabinet structure;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the parts of the construction and munting of the upper portion of the cabine Fig. 6 is a view partly in bottom plan and partly in section to better disclose a means for moving the legs to an extended position, as an extensible leaf carried by the cabinet is released and swung to an open position;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view taken substantially on the line 7 7 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is aV detail sectional view to show the manner of mounting the tab-le leaf supporting braces;

Fig. 9 is a view to better illustrate the means by which certain of the supporting legs for the cabinet are mounted; and,

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the arrangement and mounting of the false bottom for the stove receiving compartment, and upon which the stove is mounted and supported.

The body portion includes the ends 1 and Q and the top portion 3, and the end portions l and 2 are provided with openings for the reception of drawers t and 5. The end and top portions of the body may be made of wood or other suitable material, and the drawers and 5 which are fitted through the opposite ends, might be of the same material although it is perhaps preferable that they be constructed of sheet metal and made liquid tight, as it is the intention that these compartments be used for the storage of food stuffs and the like, and where they are made of metal the possibility of liquid or semi liquid spilling within the drawers and leaking through to the contents of other drawers is eliminated. The drawers are provided with handles 6 and spring latches 7 are mounted to engage with the top of the end members and hold the drawers in the closed position, thumb pieces 8 being embraced with the spring latches and disposed in such position that when the handles are grasped the thumb may be pressed against these pieces and the spring latches will thus be released to permit opening of the drawers.

It of course should be understood that the ordinary spring latch which is now employed may be used and is intended to be used in connection with the present device, and in view of the fact that any form of latch may be employed it is thought unnecessary to go into details in the description and illustration thereof. Below the drawers it is preferable that a partition wall 9 be disposed to form a compartment 1() in the lower part of the body a bottom 11 being provided for this compartment.

The leaves 12 and 13 are mounted by means of hinges 14, on opposite side edges of the top 3, and these leaves can be constructed of single boards or might be formed of veneered stock, or might embrace a frame having a veneered panel set therein. The bearing brackets 15 are secured on the under sides of the leaves 12 and 13 and have brace members 16 and 17 swingingly mounted thereon, flanged plates 13 and 19 being mounted on the side members 20 and 21 of the upper portion of the body of the cabinet to have the free ends of these brace members 16 and 17 engaged thereon in such a manner that the leaves 12 and 13 will be retained in an elevated or raised position in which they form substantially a continuation of the top portion 3. By swinging the brace members 16 and 17 up against the lower side of the leaves 12 and 13 the same may be moved down to lie against the side members 2O and 21, and then the outer sides of the leaves 12 and 13 will lie substantially in a plane with the back portion 22 and the cover member 30 respectively of the compartment 10 in the lower part of the body portion,

It will be understood that the body portion of the cabinet is made sufhciently high, so that the leaves 12 and 13, may be conveniently raised to permit the same to be used with the portion 3 as a table top. This structure is clearly shown in F ig. 1 of the drawings. Suitable casters 24 are provided for the purpose of permitting the cabinet to be readily :loved when placed upon a floor although of course it should be understood that suitable legs may be employed or provided for the purpose of supporting the cabinet when the same is placed upon the ground and used as a table. Any unevenness or irregularity in the surface of the ground may be compensated for by leveling the table structure over large irregularities in the ground surface and then accomplishing the desired truing up by forcing some of the legs into the earth to cause the table to maintain its proper level. By considering Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the legs which may be employed in connection with the present invention are formed from 1 the substantially U-shaped members 25 and 26 which are carried by the respective ends of the body portion of the cabinet. These substantially U-shaped members work through the guiding brackets 27 carried by the respective ends of the body of the cabinet as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in this way permitting the substantially U-shaped members to be freely guided to the desired position to suit the convenience of the operator. rlhe leaf 13 has guide members 28 and 29 mounted on the side edges thereof and bars 30 are held by these guide members to `have sliding movement. tween the outer ends of the slide bars 30 and a spring handle member 32 is connected with this cross bar 3l to be grasped and used in Vmanually shifting the cross bar to vary the setting of the slide bars 30 within the guide members 23 and 29. Springs 33 and 34 are connected with thc body portion of the cabinet and with the cross bar 31 so that their normal tendency is to urge the cross bar 31 forward so that the ends of the slide bars 30 will be extended over and adjacent the end edges of the top member 3. A catch member is mounted on the under side of the leaf 13 and the spring handle 32 has a notch 36 formed therein to engage with the catch 35 so that the cross bar will be held against movement under the force exerted thereagainst by the springs 33 and 34, and the ends of the guide bars 30 will consequently be held from extension over the top portion 3. The ends of the slide rods 30 have pins 37 mounted on and outstanding therefrom, and as the cross bar 31 is moved forward under the force exerted by the springs 33 and 34, after being released by the catch member 35 the ends of the slide rods or bars 30 will be extended to such relation that as the leaf 13 is swung to the raised position, the pins 37 will bear against the cross loops of the substantially U-shaped members 25 and 26 in consequence of which the same will be forced to slide the leg portions thereof downwardly through the bearing straps 27 to such position that the ends of the leg portions will be brought against the ground or other surface upon which the cabinet is placed and the entire cabinet structure will be elevated to raise the caster wheels from a bearing position. It should be understood that when it is desired to move the legs downwardly, the arms 30 are released vand the leaf is swung upwardly, thereby bearing down on the legs for moving the same to an extended position. It should be understood that the leaf 13 may be swung without actuating the U-shaped legs or members 25 and 26. The leaves 12 and 13 having been moved to an extended position, the braces 17 are moved in position A cross bar 31 is connected be-l so as to engage the members 18 and 19, these braces 16 and 17 constituting an efficient support for maintaining the leaves 12 and 13 in this extended position.

rllhe compartment 10 in the lower portion of the body is intended to be especially constructed for the storage of a stove and as has been stated, this compartlnent has a top 9 a bottom 1l and a back 22, the ends thereof being formed by the end members 1 and 2 of the body. The cleats 28 are mounted on the inner sides of the ends of the compartment slightly spaced above the bottom 11, and a false bottom 292L is mounted to slide in the grooves formed by the placing of these cleats. A door 30 is hingedly mounted on the forward edge of the false bottom 29a, and is adapted to swing down and slide substantially in the same plane therewith. Folding brace members 31a are mounted on the upper side of the false bottom 29a adjacent the forward edge thereof and at their opposite end have connection with the ends of the compartment, so that as the false bottom 29a is withdrawn to the extended position these folding brace members 31a will act to support the sam'e in a horizontal plane. A suitable stove may be placed upon the false bottom 29a, and it is intended that the door 30 shall be swung down to lie substantially in the same plane with the false bottom 29a and thus form a table extension adjacent the stove. The edges of the door 30 and the false bottom member 29L are notched out and substantially L-shaped members 32u are swingingly mounted within the notched openings of the false bottom member 29a to be in proximity to the hinge connection of the door 30 therewith, it however being understood that the pivotal mounting of these L-shaped members is to be slightly spaced back from the outer edge of the false bottom member. Legs 83a are pivotally mounted within the notched openings at the edges of the door 30 and have extensions on both sides thereof, the L-shaped members 32a being connected with short arms of the legs 33a after the manner shown particularly in Figs. l and 9. When the door 30 is moved to the open position as shown in Fig. 1 the L-shaped member 32ad will cause the leg members 33 to be swung around the pivotal mounting and extend substantially vertically so that they present leg portions or rests below the door 80 adjacent the outer edge thereof. As the door 30 is raised or swung up to the closed position the fact that the members 32 are pivoted slightly beyond the hinge connection between the door and the false bottom members, will cause the leg portions 33a to be swung down within the notches of the door and then the parts will occupy substantially the pos sition shown in Fig.y 9 where the leg por- Where it may be desired to permanently hold the members 25 and 26 in such relation that leg extensions are provided below the cabinet body the clamp screws 34 and plates 35 might be employed or turn buttons could be made use of, and also it will be apparent that the cabinet might have hooks 36 mounted thereon to engage through eyes provided on the running board of an automobile or at some other point where the cabinet is to be set and secured.

It will be appreciated that special utensils, a special stove, special oil or fuel containing cans and the like might be constructed to be used with the cabinet, however, it will be apparent that by constructing a cabinet in the manner as above set forth, the same can be made of a size to be conveniently handled when the parts are folded up, it having been found that a very convenient and useful cabinet can be made to have a folded over-all dimension of only fifteen inches, by twenty-two and one half inches, by thirty inches high. The cabinet could be used to great advantage by automobiliste or motor boat enthusiasts as it could be fitted in place and readily secured upon the running board of an automobile or upon the deck or in the cabin of a motor boat, that when secured and mounted in place access can be had to all of the compartments and the leaf 18 can be raised for use, the false bottom also being capable of being extended to present the stove and that a cabinet constructed after the manner of my invention possesses a number of other points of utility and advantage which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Vhile I have herein shown and described only one specific form of the cabinet and have set forth only certain specific mountings and arrangements of parts, it will of course be understood that a number of changes and variations might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the various parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, in view of which fact I do not wish to be limited to the exact disclosure but only to such points as may be set forth in the claims.

I claim 1. A camping cabinet comprising a body, a top, a leaf secured thereto, arms slidably mounted upon said leaf, springs engaging said arms for causing the sameto slide over said top when said leaf is swung to an open position, slidable legs carried by said body, and means carried by said arms and over- `hanging the upper ends of said legs for the leg and move the latter downwardly as moving said legs downwardly to an operathe leaf is swung into horizontal position. 10

tive position as said leaf is swung to an 0p- In testimony whereof I afliX my signature erativeposition. in presence of two witnesses.

2. In a camping cabinet, a body, a leaf SAMUEL B. TWISS. hinged to the body, a vertically sliding leg, Witnesses: an arm slidable on the leaf and a projection Mrs. J. A. PORTER,

extending laterally from the arm to engage RAYMOND E. DOGKERY. 

